ai4bharat/Pralekha huggingface dataset:
Ministry of Science & Technology
New drug for amoebiasis in the offing
According to the World Health Organization , Entamoeba histolytica is the third-leading cause of morbidity and mortality due to parasitic disease in humans. It causes amoebiasis or amoebic dysentery, which is highly prevalent in developing countries. A team of researchers from the Jawaharlal Nehru University  has developed new drug molecules against the protozoa that causes amoebiasis.
This protozoan is anaerobic or micro-aerophilic in nature such that it cannot survive high concentrations of oxygen. However, during infection, it faces a high surge of oxygen inside the human body. The organism synthesizes large amounts of cysteine to counter oxidative stress.
This pathogen deploys cysteine as one of the essential molecules in its defence mechanism against high oxygen levels. Entamoeba expresses two crucial enzymes for synthesizing cysteine. Researchers from JNU has characterized and determined the molecular structures of both these crucial enzymes. “We have also successfully screened for potent inhibitors for one of the enzymes, O-acetyl L-serine sulfhydrylase . Some of these inhibitors can check the growth of this organism with high efficacy,” said Prof. Samudrala Gourinath, lead researcher, School of Life Sciences, JNU, while speaking with India Science Wire.
“Cysteine biosynthesis is crucial for the survival of E. histolytica and may be similar protozoan parasites. These can be targeted by inhibiting their pathways, which we have successfully done. The identified molecules can be lead to the development of drug molecules” said Dr Gourinath.
The research team includes Sudhaker Dharavath, Ramachandran Vijayan, Khushboo Kumari, and Priya Tomar. The study has been published in the journal European Journal of Medicinal Chemistry.
Ministry of Law and Justice
Legal Aid to the Disabled
The Government has undertaken several measures to make available affordable, quality and speedy justice to the common man, including persons with disabilities. The Legal Services Authorities  Act, 1987 provides free and competent legal services to the weaker sections of the society including beneficiaries covered under Section 12 of the Act to ensure that opportunities for securing justice are not denied to any citizen by reason of economic or other disabilities and to organize Lok Adalats to secure that the operation of the legal system promotes justice on a basis of equal opportunities. For this purpose, the legal services institutions have been setup from the Taluk Court level to the Supreme Court. Further to enable equitable access to justice, National Legal Services Authorities  has also launched Legal Services Mobile App on Android and IoS version to enable easy access to legal aid to common citizens including persons with disabilities.
India is party to Incheon Strategy to "Make the Right Real" for persons with disabilities  in Asia and the Pacific. It sets out 10 goals such as reduction in poverty and enhancing work and employment prospects, promoting participation in political process and decision making, creation of barrier free environment, strengthening social protection, promoting early intervention and education of children with disabilities, ensuring gender equality and women's empowerment, promoting disability-inclusive disaster risk reduction and management, improving the reliability and comparability of disability data, accelerating ratification and implementation of UNCRPD and harmonise National Laws and promoting sub regional, regional and inter-regional cooperation.
In addition, the Government has also enacted the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act , 2016 which came into force on 19.04.2017. The Act inter-alia provides for reservation for PwDs in Government employment, creation of accessible feature for them, participation of PwDs in decision making process through Central and State Advisory Board on Disability, inclusive education etc. Section 12 of the said Act particularly deals with access to justice, which inter alia mandates the appropriate Government to provide for recording of testimonies, arguments or opinion given by person with disabilities in their preferred language and means of communication.
29,050 persons with disabilities have been provided legal services under the Legal Services Authorities Act, 1987 during April, 2018 to January, 2022.
This information was given by the Union Minister of Law and Justice, Shri Kiren Rijiju in a written reply in Rajya Sabha, today.
NITI Aayog
AIM Launches India–Australia Circular Economy Hackathon, with Australia’s Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation 
AIM , in association with CSIRO, is organizing a two-day hackathon on circular economy, ‘India–Australia Circular Economy Hackathon ’, on 7 and 8 December.
The idea of I-ACE was conceived during a virtual summit on 4 June, between the Indian and Australian prime ministers, exploring innovative ways to boost circular economy in India and Australia.
I-ACE will focus on identification and development of innovative technology solutions by bright-minded students, startups and MSMEs of both nations.
The four key themes for the hackathon are as follows:
- Innovation in packaging reducing packaging waste
- Innovation in food supply chains avoiding waste
- Creating opportunities for plastic waste reduction
- Recycling critical energy metals and e-waste
Shortlisted students and startups/MSMEs will be called for the hackathon, where two winners  per theme from each country will be announced at an award ceremony on 11 December.
Launching the hackathon, AIM Mission Director and NITI Aayog Additional Secretary R. Ramanan said, ‘We are looking at how we can address the circular economy challenge, which can create possible solutions for not only eliminating waste but also for reusing waste.’
CSIRO Chief of Division of Land and Water Dr Paul Bertsch, said, ‘India and Australia have had a strong and productive bilateral partnership since a decade and our collaborations across a broad range of areas have yielded significant results.’ He also highlighted that by coming together, India and Australia can align research and developmental efforts to achieve more at a challenging time in the history of mankind.
Concurring with Dr Paul Bertsch, Dr Heinz Schandl, at CSIRO Senior Science Leader of Land and Water, said, ‘In the long run a circular economy model will provide more jobs and higher economic growth. It will also reduce cost, drive innovation and have significant environmental benefits.’
Gracing the occasion, NITI Aayog Vice Chairman Dr Rajiv Kumar said, ‘This is a very important initiative to make our economy less resource intensive and ensure our economic growth is ecologically compatible.’
Highlighting the importance of combining Australia’s Research and Development base with India’s scale and record of frugal innovations, NITI Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant said, ‘The need of the hour is to adopt a disruptive way of doing things, which is based on sustainability and moving towards a circular economy.
The winning Indian student and startup/MSME teams will be awarded a prize of Rs 2 lakh and Rs 5 lakh, respectively, coupled with post-hackathon product development opportunities. The winning Australian student will be awarded a prize of AUD$3500 and the winning Australian SMEs/startup team a prize of AUD$9500.
The last date for application submissions is 6 November 2020. Those interested can apply via http://aimapp2.aim.gov.in/iace/.
Ministry of Home Affairs
Monitoring of Social Media
Police and public order are State subjects as per the Constitution. States are responsible for prevention, detection and investigation of cyber crimes through their law enforcement machinery as per the relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code and the Information Technology Act, 2000.
Law enforcement agencies monitor the web and social media and take appropriate action for blocking of such unlawful content under section 69A of the Information Technology Act, 2000. Committee constituted under Information Technology  Rules, 2009 periodically monitors the compliance of the directions issued under the provisions of Information Technology Act, 2000. Government holds meetings with intermediaries from time to time for strengthening the cooperation framework to ensure better compliance. Level of the compliance from the year 2017 till June 2018 is given below:
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Facebook
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YouTube
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Twitter
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Instagram
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Others
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No. of URLs recommended for blocking
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1076
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182
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728
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150
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109
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No. of URLs blocked
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956
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152
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409
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66
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79
This was stated by the Minister of State for Home Affairs, Shri Hansraj Gangaram Ahir in a written reply to a question in the Lok Sabha today.
Ministry of Coal
Shri Prahlad Joshi congratulate Shivani Meena for Joining Rajrappa Project of CCL as Excavation Engineer
Glass Ceilings continue to shatter in the Coal Industry
Ms. Shivani becomes first Excavation Engineer to work in an Open Cast Mine
The Union Coal, Mines and Parliamentary Affairs Minister, Shri Pralhad Joshi has congratulated Shivani, first Excavation Engineer and Central Coalfields Ltd.  management under the Ministry of Coal. He tweeted that hope this will open avenues for more female professionals to join the mining sector. The Union Minister of Women and Child Development Smt. Smriti Irani has also appreciated this achievement of Shivani.
Ms. Shivani Meena has joined the Rajrappa project, a mechanized opencast mine in the Rajrappa area of CCL as an excavation engineer. This is unprecedented as Ms. Shivani is the first woman engineer in the Excavation cadre to work in an open cast mine. She has been given the responsibility of Maintenance and Repair of Heavy Earth Moving Machinery . It may be noted that Rajrappa is an important project of CCL. Rajrappa area was recently awarded by the Ministry of Coal for its excellent work under Swacchta Mission.
A native of Bharatpur, Rajasthan, she completed her engineering from IIT Jodhpur. Ms. Shivani credits her family for her success and states that it was their unwavering support that inspired her. She further states that working in Coal India Limited is a cumulation of years of arduous work and she wants to give her best to the company.
Prime Minister's Office
PM condoles loss of lives of Indian Army Personnel due to an avalanche in Arunachal Pradesh
The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi has expressed deep grief and sorrow over the loss of lives of Indian Army Personnel due to an avalanche in Arunachal Pradesh.
In a tweet, the Prime Minister said, ''Saddened by the loss of lives of Indian Army personnel due to an avalanche in Arunachal Pradesh. We will never forget their exemplary service to our nation. Condolences to the bereaved families.".
Ministry of Health and Family Welfare
COVID19 Vaccination-Day 81
More than 8.40 Cr COVID19 vaccine doses administered
5.62 lakh vaccine doses given till 8 pm today
The cumulative number of COVID19 vaccine doses administered in the country has crossed 8.40 Crore today.
A total of 8,40,65,357 vaccine doses have been given, as per the provisional report till 8 pm today.
These include 89,60,966 Healthcare Workers  who have taken the 1st dose and 53,77,011 HCWs who have taken the 2nd dose, 97,30,304 Frontline Workers  , 42,68,788 FLWs , 2,00,51,197 for over 45 years old to 59 years old , 3,96,769 for over 45 years old to 59 years old , 3,44,18,802 for above 60 years  and 8,61,520 for above 60 years  .
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HCWs
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FLWs
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Age Group 45-60 years
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Above 60
Years
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Total Achievement
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1st Dose
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2nd Dose
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1st Dose
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2nd Dose
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1st Dose
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2nd Dose
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1st Dose
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2nd Dose
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1st Dose
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2nd Dose
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89,60,966
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53,77,011
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97,30,304
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42,68,788
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2,00,51,197
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3,96,769
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3,44,18,802
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8,61,520
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7,31,61,269
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1,09,04,088
Total 5,62,807 vaccine doses were given till 8 pm today, the Eighty First day of nationwide COVID19 vaccination. Out of which 4,57,749 beneficiaries were vaccinated for 1st dose and 1,05,058 beneficiaries received 2nd dose of the vaccine as per the provisional report. Final reports would be completed for the day by late tonight.
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Date: 6th April 2021
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HCWs
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FLWs
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Age Group 45-60 years
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Above 60 Years
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Total Achievement
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1st Dose
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2nd Dose
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1st Dose
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2nd Dose
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1st Dose
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2nd Dose
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1st Dose
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2nd Dose
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1st Dose
|
|
2nd Dose
|
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746
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4,761
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11,601
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64,549
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2,90,369
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6,264
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1,55,033
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29,484
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4,57,749
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1,05,058
Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions
Union Minister Dr Jitendra Singh calls for a united fight against COVID-19
Union Minister of State  Development of North Eastern Region , MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances, Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh, today said that this is a calamity which happens once in a century and it is time to rise above politics to fight COVID in the larger interest of mankind.
In an exclusive media interview, Dr Jitendra Singh expressed disappointment at the fact that many of the opposition leaders as well as so-called intellectuals spend a lot of their time and energy in issuing press statements or posting Tweets criticizing the Modi government for alleged mis-management of the pandemic. He said, if only the same amount of time and energy were spent by them in joining hands with the administration and the like-minded citizens to meet this challenge, India's fight against COVID would become far much easier.
Dr Jitendra Singh said that he has observed a recent phenomenon, wherein some kind of one –upmanship has set in among the opposition politicians as well as some media scribes to continuously run a campaign denouncing the government. He appealed to all such critics to come forward and contribute in filling up the missing gaps, if they genuinely see any.
Dr Jitendra Singh also came hard on such critics who are day in and day out crying hoarse to tell the world that the Government of India failed to foresee the severity of the second wave of the pandemic.
He asked them to check the records and they would realise that as late as February this year, even the best of the scientists and medical professionals across the world had not predicted that the second wave would be of such severity and many of them are on record having said that the second wave may be characterised with more of virus infectivity but less of virulence, but in many a COVID patients that we see today, it has been just the contrary. How fair, therefore, would it be to blame the Modi government for this, he asked.
Describing this as trying times for all, Dr Jitendra Singh said, this is not an occasion to indulge in motivated criticism for political reasons or manufactured criticism for extraneous considerations. Instead, he said, it is important to build the confidence among common masses and explain to them how the COVID pandemic is being effectively fought on a war footing in a country as vast as India with a population of over 135 crores.
Dr Jitendra Singh also appealed to all to check the facts before rushing to conclusions and making public comments which tend to create panic in the society.
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SNC
(Visitor Counter : 223
Ministry of Commerce & Industry
GeM to ensure transparency in public procurement
As an initiative to improve transparency in procurement, Government has set up Government e- Marketplace as a 100% Government owned company registered under the Companies Act, 2013 for providing online platform for procurement of common use goods and services by government organizations.
Government e- Marketplace  is an online platform for government users which was launched on 9th August, 2016. It leverages technology to enhance transparency, efficiency and speed in public procurement. It provides the tools of e-bidding, reverse e-auction and demand aggregation to facilitate the government users, achieve the best value of their money. It is paperless, cashless and contactless platform giving end to end solution.
All the State Governments are utilising the services offered by Government e-Marketplace. In addition, 22 States namely, Gujarat, Jharkhand, Telengana, Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Arunachal Pradesh, Bihar, Tamil Nadu, Tripura, Punjab, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Nagaland, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Odisha, Maharashtra, Meghalaya and West Bengal have signed Memorandum of Understanding for making procurement through GeM portal mandatory in their state.
This information was given by the Minister of State of Commerce & Industry C R Chaudhary in a written reply in the Lok Sabha today.
Ministry of Defence
Manufacturing Defence Equipment
Capital procurement of defence equipment is undertaken from various domestic as well as foreign vendors, based on operational requirements of the Armed Forces, the availability or capacity to produce the equipment in India and abroad, to keep the Armed Forces in a state of readiness to meet the entire spectrum of security challenges.
During the last four financial years , 135 contracts have been signed with Indian vendors and 75 contracts have been signed with foreign vendors for capital procurement of defence equipment for Armed Forces. The defence equipment contracted with foreign vendors during this period include aircrafts, helicopters, missiles, rockets, artillery guns, assault rifles, navy vessels, simulators and ammunitions.
Government is pursuing initiatives to achieve higher levels of indigenisation and self-reliance in the defence sector by harnessing the capabilities of the public and private sector industries in the country. These measures include according priority and preference to procurement from Indian vendors and liberalization of the licensing regime. Defence Procurement Procedure  accords the highest priority to Buy Indian  Designed Developed and Manufactured . The ‘Make’ procedure has been simplified with provisions for earmarking projects not exceeding development cost of Rs.10 crores  and Rs.3 crores  for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises ; and with provisions for involving private industry as production agencies and technology transfer partners. Government has also promulgated the policy on Strategic Partnership in the Defence Sector to encourage broader participation of the private sector in manufacture of major defence platforms and equipment.
This information was given by Raksha Rajya Mantri Shri Shripad Naik in a written reply to Shri Mohammed Faizal P.P in Lok Sabha today.
Nampi/DK/HS
(Visitor Counter : 588
President's Secretariat
President of India opens Rashtrapati Bhavan's Annual "Udyanotsav"
Mughal Gardens to open for the public from February 12 to March 16
Entry will be through advance online booking only
The President of India, Shri Ram Nath Kovind, opened the annual “Udyanotsav” of Rashtrapati Bhavan today .
The Mughal Gardens will remain open for the general public from February 12, 2022 to March 16, 2022  between 1000 hrs to 1700 hrs .
Visitors will be allowed to see the Gardens only through advance online booking. Booking can be made on https://rashtrapatisachivalaya.gov.in or https://rb.nic.in/rbvisit/visit_plan.aspx. Like previous year, this year too walk-in entry will not be available as precautionary measures.
Seven pre-booked hourly slots will be available between 1000 hrs and 1700 hrs. Last entry will be at 1600 hrs. Each slot can accommodate a maximum of 100 persons. During the tour, visitors have to follow COVID protocols such as wearing of mask, maintaining social distance etc. They will have to undergo thermal screening at the entry point. No visitor will be allowed without mask.
Entry and exit for all visitors will be from Gate No. 35 of the President’s Estate, close to where North Avenue meets Rashtrapati Bhavan.
Visitors can carry mobiles phones during the visit. However, they are requested not to bring any water bottles, briefcases, handbags/ladies purses, cameras, radios/transistors, boxes, umbrellas, arms and ammunitions and eatables etc. Arrangements of hand sanitizers, drinking water, toilets, first aid / medical facility are provided at various points along the public route.
The main attraction of this year’s Udyanotsav will be 11 varieties of Tulips which are expected to bloom in phases during February. Flower Carpets in magnificent designs will also be on display in the Central Lawns. The dominant colour scheme of this year’s ornamental flowers is white, yellow, red and orange. A small cactus corner has also been landscaped along with some air purifying plants in the gardens.
Election Commission
2 Parliamentary Constituencies of West Bengal amongst 91 to Undergo Poll tomorrow in First Phase of General Election, 2019
Kolkata, April 10, 2019
In the first phase of General Election, 2019, polling will be held tomorrow in 91 out of 543 Lok Sabha constituencies spread over 20 States and Union Territories including West Bengal.
Polling will be held in two constituencies of the State in the first phase- Coochbehar  and Alipurduars . The polling in these two constituencies will start from 7 am and continue till 6 pm.
Eighteen candidates are in the fray from these two constituencies of the State, out of which 16 are male and two female. There are 3844 polling stations in these two constituencies, out of which 2010 are in Coochbehar  and 1834 in Alipurduars . The Chief Electoral Officer, Dr Aariz Aftab informed that there will be adequate number of armed police personnel in all the polling booths.
Total 3454276 general electors will exercise their franchises for the two constituencies of the State, out of which 1773196 will be male, 1681051 will be female and 29 third gender. 8307 service voters will also cast their votes in these two constituencies, out of which 8079 are male and 228 are female.
The Additional Chief Electoral Officer, Shri Sanjoy Basu said, the Election Commission of India  has already issued instructions regarding alternate documents, other than Electoral Photo Identity Cards  to be produced at polling stations for casting vote. They are- passport, driving license, Service Identity Cards with photograph issued to employees by Central/State Govt/ PSUs/Public Limited Companies, passbooks with photographs issued by Bank/Post Office, PAN Card, Smart Card issued by RGI under NPR, MNREGA Job Card, Health Insurance Smart Card issued under the scheme of Ministry of Labour, pension document with photograph, official identity cards issued to MPs/MLAs/MLCs and AADHAR Card.
Ministry of Health and Family Welfare
COVID-19 UPDATE
India's Active Caseload further declines to less than 13 lakh  after 57 days
Active Cases decrease by 72,287 in last 24 hours
Less than 1 lakh new cases for the 2nd day
India reports 92,596 new cases in last 24 hours
2,75,04,126 total Recoveries across the country so far
1,62,664 patients recovered during last 24 hours.
Recoveries continue to outnumber the Daily New Cases for the 27th consecutive day
Recovery Rate increases to 94.55%
Weekly Positivity Rate currently at 5.66%
Daily positivity rate at 4.66%, less than 10% for 16 consecutive days
Testing capacity substantially ramped up – 37.01 cr tests total conducted
23.9 Cr. Vaccine Doses administered so far under Nationwide Vaccination Drive